BRIDGETON — City council delayed acting on an ordinance that would raise construction fees at its Tuesday night meeting when three members abstained from voting on the measure.

Council President Albert Kelly and councilmen Bill Spence and Dennis Thompson all abstained, while Nicholas Salvatore voted in favor of the ordinance.

Municipal clerk Darlene Richmond said Councilwoman Gladys Lugardo was on record as voting for the ordinance, but Lugardo said on Friday that she’d voted against it.

It was still unclear Friday how the fees as currently proposed compare to past fees here and how they compare with other communities such and Vineland and Millville.

City business administrator Arch Liston said he’s gathering such data, which he said should be available within days.

Construction code official Robert Mixner did not return a call for comment on Friday.

The proposed ordinance calls for a minimum building subcode fee of $90.

Among a list of varied fees, renovations and repairs - likely the bulk of construction here - would cost $90 for the first $1,000 estimated cost of the project and $20 for each additional $1,000.

Mayor James Begley was clearly annoyed with the failure to act. He pointed out that the fee measure, much like the recent graffiti ordinance that was defeated, had been up for discussion since August.

Begley was particularly irked that the members abstained at the time of the vote after - he said- they had not met with the administration to voice concerns.

Kelly said he’d met privately with Mixner, who devised, at least in large part, the proposed fees.

“I want to reconsider (the ordinance),” Kelly said on Friday, “and look at some of its aspects.”He said “a lot of individuals” here are doing work, mostly on housing, that is not in line with construction code.

“I think increasing the fees would encourage even more of that,” Kelly explained.

“Our construction code officials are doing the best they can to keep up with these things...but it’s hard for a department to be on top of everything,” he added.

As Salvatore asserted earlier in the week, Begley argued that annual state funds for distressed cities come with state regulations on keeping municipal departments self-sufficient. That includes the construction code department.

This year, the city received $1.8 million in distressed cities aid, down from an initial projection of $2.5 million.

Liston, Begley and Salvatore all said the fee ordinance is needed to keep the department operational and in line with state demands.

“The state is helping us, so the state says ‘You have to do X, Y and Z,’” Begley said.

“We don’t have lots of new construction here,” Begley said, “but the work we do is rehab, which is very time-consuming.”

“(The fees) take into account how much time (Mixner) spends getting in and out.”

He added that much work is done to address wiring, heating, plumbing and other types of problems in city homes.

Begley also countered Kelly’s assertion that higher fees may encourage more violations.“No matter what the fees are, they’re going to do it,” he said.

As for the remaining abstentions, Spence said he chose not to vote because he was considering an addition to his own home.

Thompson said he feels the fees are still too high and would stifle efforts to draw businesses and residents.

“We don’t need to shun people,” he said. “We need to attract them.”

“I think we should look into coming to a happy medium so it’s not such a burden on contractors,” he added.

Thompson had also abstained from the first reading of the ordinance in an earlier meeting. He said he preferred tabling it while council looked at the fees other communities were charging.